30 minutes.

"The culling what?" a middle-aged woman asked, her voice laced with confusion and fear.

"You were once denizens of habitable planet C-0132; your ignorance is understandable." It made a pause. "Let me educate you."

The light around it burgeoned, creating numerous holographs. It displayed a vast network of planets and the shadowy image of a crown-wearing figure.

"I am Gaia, a servant of the United Human Empire. Under the direct orders of Her Majesty, I've been assigned the role of overseer for this culling."

"This is bullshit. It must be a dream. That's what it is…" It was the last person who entered speaking. He was tattooed, had the looks, and perhaps the temperament of a ruffian. He did think he was dreaming, though, which piqued my interest. However, I was cut off by the figure.

"I assure you esteemed participant, this is as far from a dream as it gets." It seemed even it didn't believe it was part of an elaborate dream. I thought it would be more knowledgeable. Sighing, I made up my mind to talk to the man later.

Regardless, the figure continued.

"The culling games are real and of vital importance to the Empire. Following the New Endangered Planets Law, 10 million denizens are to be selected from any planet that falls within this category before its inevitable demise."

"What do you mean demise? What about Terra? What happens to other denizens?" It was Lisa who spoke this time; her calm voice sounded forced. The other survivors apart from the AK-47-wielding man became agitated too.

"The others? Dead, all of them." Its voice remained as emotionless as ever. What followed, though, was the exact opposite. Outrage, confusion, incredulity, disbelief… they all were evident in the people.

I looked at the people not screaming; there was the middle-aged man whose head was bent as though deep in thought. Lisa, who caused the madness, didn't join the commotion. She scratched her head trying to recall something in desperation.

Eventually, the figure slowly clenched its hand. "Silence,"

The moment it said that the screaming turned to choking as we all fell down. I wheezed and coughed; I could feel the collar tightening around my neck. I clawed at it; my eyes teared up, my heart beat rapidly. I could feel myself becoming light-headed.

Eventually, the pressure lessened, slowly dissipating into nothing. Pushing myself up, I took in deep, heavy breaths.

I had been scared; that choke threatened me. But I was dreaming; why was I afraid of dying? I'd just wake up. A headache was already threatening to sprout, forcing me to drop the topic. The figure's unchanged voice continued,

"Now that I have your attention again, I'll remind you. You need not concern yourself with the fate of your planet. All you should focus on is surviving the culling games."

It didn't give time for questions before continuing.

"The Culling games, better known as The Culling, is a massive battle royale spanning across a decade. As you have probably already guessed, the participants will be the 10 million denizens recovered from the now-dead planet C-0142." The participants who screamed earlier became visibly agitated but kept shut. The memory of the figure's power was very fresh in their minds.

"However, you will not be left unaided. If you've checked your status, you would know that there are many empty slots within it. By filling them, you will not only be increasing your chances of living but also gain access to powers considered impossible to obtain in your former world. As for how you do so, that will be left to your experimentation and rewards from missions." It paused.

"Speaking of missions, I will be giving you your very first mission now. Kill a fellow participant within the next 30 minutes. You may check your status for the details."

Even I was startled now. I could already feel that this dream would become my worst one yet, which was a rather high bar considering my kind of dreams. Although, I would be lying if I said I wasn't proud of my mind for coming up with such an intricate dream. That wasn't entirely a good thing though; I wasn't sure how much of its dark confines were still mine. Gaia continued,

"Well then, I have told you all that you have the right to know. As for anything else, you will naturally come to know them if you survive the culling."

It scanned all the survivors with its "eyes" before speaking again.

"Learn, grow, adapt, survive, and conquer. That is the only way to win the Culling games."

It seemed to emanate a feeling of reverence and pity.

"Farewell esteemed participants, Only one can survive."

In a flash of light, it disappeared just as fast as it showed up.

There was a silence for some time, eventually broken by the middle-aged woman who spoke initially.

"We're not just going to believe her… right."

No one answered her; Gaia had shaken any thoughts of normalcy they had.

I ignored them, though; I was far more interested in the mission Gaia gave, and from the looks of it, I wasn't the only one. I could see the middle-aged man and Lisa trying to pull up their status. The status itself came from some light emitting out of a small hole in their collars.

"Strange…"

Regardless, I thought about pulling up my status. Immediately, a black light flashed, and the table lay in front of me.

[Name: Participant#3239420]

[Title: None]

[Kill count (Human): 0]

[Days survived: 0]

[Condition: Healthy]

Stats

[Build: Prisoner]

[Constitution: F-]

[Coordination: F-]

[Spirit: F+]

Pandora

[True soul piece: None]

[Core ability: None]

[Nightmare symbiote: None]

[Credits: Zero]

Missions

[Current Missions: 1]

[First Blood]

[The culling games have just begun; without the temperament of a killer, it's certain you won't get far. Prove your mettle and take the life of another participant within the next thirty minutes.]

[Time left: (24:45)]

[Rewards]

[Ritual for obtaining a true soul piece.]

[Punishment]

[Death via slow strangulation]

The moment I laid eyes on the mission, I jumped to the side, lashing out with my axe.

At the same time, three gunshots resounded in the room.